<p>While I no longer visit this site often since both of my D’s are well settled and at the end of their academic careers, I do feel the need to respond to this thread. I can certainly understand the position of the posters above, but I would like to write about my D’s experience in Ghana. </p>
<p>She attended a Global Brigade medical program in Ghana for 2 consecutive years. From everything she has told me and I have read, this program is very sensitive to the culture of Ghana and sends college students in many different fields to the villages. Business students talk to the villagers about microeconomics, ecologists about clean water, law students about human rights, etc. My D plans on a medical career, and worked closely with Ghanaian doctors in screening and treating patients, dispersing medications, and talking to the villagers about preventative health issues. They interviewed the locals re: their problems and concerns, and took that information back to the program to better serve them in the future. While she did not yet have formal medical training, she worked hard during the time she was there, and they saw and treated with the physicians over 1000 people during their clinic days. </p>
<p>I was also worried about the trip, but did research into the program and country, and felt as confident as I could that they were in a stable country and were aware of the medical and safety issues they would encounter. </p>
<p>Could the money spent have been given directly to those villages and ultimately been more beneficial to them? Maybe, but that discounts the lessons my D learned that I believe will benefit many other people in the future. In addition, there are many problems donating directly to those in need, and in fact even after visiting the country there are issues in sending financial aid to a specific family or village. In fact, for her senior paper she is planning on researching how the strong feelings of altruism that are experienced from “volunteer tourism” can be built upon on return to continue to support these communities in the future. </p>
<p>We are not wealthy, but I believe the money that she raised and we spent was worth it. She fell in love with the people of Ghana, and came back with a new perspective of the world and life in general that would not have been achieved if she had volunteered in a local hospital (which in fact she has already done). While the first visit may have in fact been partially driven by looming medical school applications- the second was because she fell in love with the people there and felt that she had made a difference. In fact, she is planning on returning for a longer stay after she finishes her medical training. I don’t know if these feelings will last through medical school, but I do believe it is unfair to universally discount the lessons learned or the difference made from these trips. </p>